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Originally Posted by cannon7
This may come as something of a shock, but small market teams are already farm teams for big market clubs.
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So you want to make matters even worse? Nice.
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I am curious when you think the Flames have tried this before? Pre cap era? Young Guns era? I mean what is being suggested here doesn't align with anything the Flames have done in the past, IMO. The Flames haven't had a top scouting staff in the league in over 30 years.
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All through the 1990s, the Flames had to trade their top players to other teams, or else watch them walk as free agents. They couldn't afford to sign them.
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But to address your real objection: developing talent for other teams. Well here's the thing. In a professional sports league, talent is your currency. You might have a nice city, a nice arena and even a passionate fanbase. But the only thing you can really exchange is talent. Sure the Flames could relocate to a more desirable city, but I'm pretty sure none of us want that? So what's left? Talent.
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You don't get the benefit of that talent if you trade it away the minute it's done developing.
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In order to be rich in the currency of exchange you need more talent than the next guy over. If you can't buy the talent, you need to develop it. But here's the catch: you eventually need to trade that talent to realize any gains.
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At some point you also need to win hockey games. Your plan doesn't include that stage.
Running a perpetual farm team for other clubs, and paying those farm players NHL salaries, is a great way to lose money.